What You Need to Know About the Chicago Dining Scene This Week

A new casual café in Logan Square and Dana Cree’s cooking on demand, plus more eating and drinking news.

By Carrie Schedler

Published Sept. 2, 2015

Labor Day specials at Shake Shack Photo: Evan Sung

Opening

Lynn Malec of the late La Tache is back with Catalpa Kitchen (2800 W. Logan Blvd., Logan Square, 872-206-2856), a far-more-casual corner café with eggs, burgers, and juices—mostly interpretations of the basics with a little bit of panache, as in the praline pecan roll French toast.

Morsels

Just a few days after the departure of opening chef Zoë Schor, the crew at Ada St. has placed longtime sous chef and South Side native Joanna Stachon in command of the spot. You can already get a taste of her food on the menu—the bruschetta, heirloom tomatoes with summer squash and cantaloupe, diver scallops with sausage, and elotes with chili aïoli are all her handiwork.

If you have a Dana Cree-sized hole in your heart and/or stomach since the pastry whiz left Blackbird and Avec, you can fill it tomorrow night with help from meal-delivery service Sprig. She crafted a menu for dinnertime with options including braised Moroccan chicken, Mediterranean snap pea and mint salad, and, best of all, some tres leches cake. Delivery starts at 5 p.m.

Up for some Labor Day weekend Shake Shack-ing? Both locations (66 E. Ohio St., River North, 312-667-1701; Chicago Athletic Association Hotel, 12 S. Michigan Ave., Loop, 312-646-6005) will be whipping up corn dogs served with sweet corn relish for $4.50 and a special peach pie concrete (vanilla custard with the pie mixed right in) for $4.25 (or $6.75 if you want a double-sized order.) The treats are available from Friday through Monday.